


Bitter Farewell

by BlackBirdAolen



Category: Final Fantasy IV
Genre: Bitterness, Death, F/M, Gift, M/M, Mount Ordeals, Mysidia - Freeform, Passing On, Poison, Tower of Zot, baron - Freeform, farewell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-23
Updated: 2014-09-23
Packaged: 2018-02-18 13:45:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2350520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackBirdAolen/pseuds/BlackBirdAolen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wounded heavily in the battles around the Tower of Zot, Cecil does not have much time left in this world. To ensure that there is still hope, he entrusts his paladin sword to a dear friend.</p><p> </p><p>  <a href="http://ask.fm/BlackBirdAolen">Got a fanfic idea for me?</a><br/><a href="http://cheroshseiphar.deviantart.com/">My deviantART - full of original fiction.</a><br/><a href="http://blackbirdaolen.tumblr.com/">Snippets and ramblings on my tumblr.</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Bitter Farewell

Cecil half opened his eyes when he heard the steps coming closer. He had waited for this moment, dreaded it even, but it had been inevitable at some point. When he and his companions had been ambushed in the Tower of Zot, overwhelmed by the sheer mass of monsters, it had been a miracle they had escaped. But a most horrible poison, which had laced the weapons of their enemies, had one by one plucked them from life. He was the only one left, but Cecil still was stubbornly clinging on to life. He still had to pass on an important message. He still had to do something which wouldn't be doable otherwise.

A warm hand rested against his cheek, and Cecil gazed up at Rosa. She had done her best to care for him, but in the end, it had only prolonged the suffering. He knew that she felt guilty, but he didn't want her to. She had done what her duty had demanded of her, and she had done just perfectly fine. Kain finally had come to his senses, and now, he was standing there, his helmet pulled off, and an almost desperate expression on his face.

"Cecil, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you all into this. I should have... should have been stronger. All of this shouldn't have happened like this. I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay." Cecil's voice croaked, and he felt like his throat was burning up again. Rosa grabbed a glass of water, and gently gave Cecil something to drink. He recovered from his coughing, and smiled lightly. "There is something I need to ask of you, Kain."

Kain blinked, trying his hardest to not cry. Rosa had been right, then. The search for a antidote had been unsuccessful, and Cecil would have to die. He would have to go, this time for sure. Nothing would be there to safe Cecil. But someone had to carry on Cecil's legacy, someone had to make sure that Golbez would be stopped.

Cecil squeezed Rosa's hand, then nodded to her, and she fetched the sword Cecil had been given at Mount Ordeals. Kain gasped, then shook his head. "You ... would ask me to take your sword? To take up the legacy of the paladin and carry out your task for you?"

"I have to." Cecil took a shuddering breath, his eyes closed once more. "I can't go on, Kain. I tried so hard to fight fate, but I simply can't any longer. I wished that it wouldn't end like that. It hurts so much." He laughed faintly, but it was eerily powerless. "Please, Kain, I trust you. I need you to carry on what I started. No one else can. I can't trust anyone else with this task."

Kain grabbed Cecil's hand, his tears now flowing freely. He was not ashamed for them. He was so upset about the whole ordeal, about the way his hatred had been used against him and his friends, and how it had damaged the bond between them. But still, Cecil would trust him, would entrust him with something so important as the paladin sword. Kain couldn't quite believe it, but he didn't talk against it. Cecil was settled, his mind still. He would not turn back from this request.

"Thank you for your trust. I don't want to disappoint you, and I... I will go on with my head held high, I will try my best to do it." Kain leaned his forehead against Cecil's, shuddering all over with effort to remain somewhat composed. "But I can't promise you that I will be successful. I... Am I even worthy of this?"

"You will have to find out for yourself." Cecil laughed weakly. "Go to Mount Ordeals, Kain. And … at the top, you might find the answers. But I can't promise anything. But it is the only glimpse of hope remaining. Please, Kain... you must try."

Kain nodded, and he remained in Cecil's room with Rosa, while the paladin slowly was fading. All of Baron was weeping when Kain stepped onto the town square, his head hanging low, and his hands gripping the blade of his childhood friend.

The paladin of Baron, the hope for many people, had died of his wounds, after prolonged suffering and a long battle with the poison. After that, Kain took the old passage to Mysidia, barely making it to the end. But the trials waiting for him at Mount Ordeals would just be the next hard station in his life. Yet he could feel it. Cecil's soul was living on through the blade. And he would always be with him.


End file.
